Saturday, May 1, 2021

Fate/Zero is the Darkest work of Fiction I give a 10 out of 10.

Possibly even the Darkest I give more then a 7.

It is the Darkest instalment of it's franchise for certain.  And like Revenge of The Sith ends as badly as it does because it's a Prequel, it's about setting wrong what our future heroes will set right.  Fate/ is overall a pretty optimistic franchise, it's name is meant to be Ironic, it's generally about beating Fate and rejecting Fatalism.  Now the average Fate/ Anime is not as much like a Magical Girl show as Fate/Khalied Liner Prima Illya, and that's fine, it's okay that there is a spectrum here.

But it's also in my opinion by far the darkest work of the "Urobutcher", as I've said repeatedly Madoka Magica and it's clones in-spite of everything are true Magical Girl shows where love and courage triumph.

Most other Anime thought of as being Dark Edgelord Anime have a limited appeal to me.  And plenty of the other Anime I like that are often considered super Dark and Edgy have a lot of light people don't see largely because of people who didn't watch them all the way to the end.

But I didn't say "Anime" or "Anime and Manga" in the title, I said fiction in general.  And when it comes to Dark works of Fiction I'm known for defending, it's often material related to DC Comics, Snyder Films, the live action Titans show, and Comics like Identity Crisis, War Games and the Bruce Wayne Fugitive Storyline.  

And for each of those cases the answer to "do you like them less then Fate/Zero or are they less Dark then Fate/Zero?" is BOTH.  And there is a limit to how much darkness I tolerate even from DC, I don't defend Future's End of any of the overly edgy New52 stuff, Fate/Zero is closer to their lever of edgy darkness, but is better then them at not feeling like it's all being done only for shock value.

The only things I can possibly say I like more then Fate/Zero that can maybe be described as at least more Dark then they are Not Dark are the Anime named Noir from 2001 and The Dark Knight from 2008.  But both are works I have very optimistic interpretations of in-spite of everything.

Snyder of course is the real controversial subject here. I really don't think any of the people who've made hours long Video Essays on why Snyder is the most cynical, toxic, pessimistic, nihilistic, misanthropic film maker of all time have watched Fate/Zero.  There is no way they can be as unforgiving of what they're unforgiving of while also being as unable to see the light in the darkness as they are when it comes to Snyder, and still be able to even sit through Fate/Zero.  Fate/Zero is much closer to being everything those people accuse Snyder of, and the optimism buried beneath the surface is visible mostly through knowing what it's a Prequel to.

And yet it would also be far more difficult for them to deny Fate/Zero was written by a good intelligent writer and directed by a skilled talented director.  Snyder allows his Style to hide his Substance, Gen Urobochi and UFOTable do not.

What does it say about me that Fate/Zero uniquely is able to be as Dark as it is and yet still be as appealing to me as it is?  I don't know really.

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